What are Flocculants?

Flocculants are a substance which promote the clumping of fine particles into a floc. The floc may then float to the top of the liquid (flotation), settle to the bottom of the liquid (sedimentation), or be readily filtered from the liquid.

Flocculants have applications across many industries. This includes civil engineering and earth sciences, biotechnology and even beer brewing and cheese! Here at SNF, our flocculants are mainly supplied to the wastewater treatment industry. Flocculation and sedimentation are utilised for the purification of drinking water as well as in sewage treatment, storm-water treatment and treatment of industrial wastewater streams.

In addition to being available in liquid and powder forms, SNF supply Flocculant Blocks which are beneficial to remote sites without any mains services available to install standard flocculant dosing systems. This includes wheel wash systems, mining and quarrying operations and moorland run-off.

One of our clients was a mining/quarry company who were encountering problems with the performance of their wheel wash. This was because the silt which washed off the vehicles had insufficient time to settle before the next vehicle was washed; thus the vehicles were being washed in dirty water. The addition of a flocculant block to the wheel wash improved the settlement of the silt and resulted in all the vehicles leaving the site in the required clean condition. Read the full case study or read about how our products have helped other companies here.